Sylvia E. Nofsinger v. VCU

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Motion disposition in opinion--granting Motion to proceed in forma pauperis (FRAP 24) [998931338-2] Originating case number: 3:12-cv-00236-JRS Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999077807]. Mailed to: Sylvia E. Nofsinger. [12-1961]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 12-1961

SYLVIA E. NOFSINGER,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY; E. DOUGLAS BOUDINOT, Dean,
School of Graduate Studies; CECIL B. DRAIN, Dean, School of
Allied Health Professions; THOMAS P. MAYHEW, Chair and
Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy; U. S.
PHYSICAL THERAPY, INC.,
Defendants - Appellees,
and
LISA D. SHOAF, Associate Professor, Department of Physical
Therapy; EMMA WHEELER, Assistant Professor, Chair of
Admissions,
Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Richmond.
James R. Spencer, District
Judge. (3:12-cv-00236-JRS)

Submitted:

February 28, 2013

Decided:

April 2, 2013

Before MOTZ and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

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Sylvia E. Nofsinger, Appellant Pro Se. Martha Murphey Parrish,
Assistant Attorney General, Catherine Crooks Hill, Christy
Monolo, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond,
Virginia; Annemarie DiNardo Cleary, Douglas P. Rucker, Jr.,
SANDS ANDERSON, PC, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellees.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Sylvia E. Nofsinger appeals the district court’s order
granting Defendants’ motions to dismiss her complaint pursuant
to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6).
relate

to

her

dismissal

from

the

Nofsinger’s claims

Virginia

Commonwealth

University (“VCU”) graduate physical therapy program.

Pursuant

to

Physical

an

affiliation

Therapy,

Inc.

agreement

(“USPT”),

between

Nofsinger

VCU

and

enrolled

U.S.
in

a

required

clinical instruction course conducted by a USPT employee.

After

receiving a failing clinical grade and subsequent dismissal from
VCU, Nofsinger filed a complaint against VCU, USPT, and five
individual VCU faculty members.

For the reasons that follow, we

affirm.
We review de novo a district court’s order dismissing
a complaint for failure to state a claim, assuming that all
well-pleaded nonconclusory factual allegations in the complaint
are true.
2011).

Aziz v. Alcolac, Inc., 658 F.3d 388, 391 (4th Cir.

A Rule 12(b)(6) motion challenges the legal sufficiency

of the complaint.
Cir. 2009).

Francis v. Giacomelli, 588 F.3d 186, 192 (4th

“To survive a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule

12(b)(6), plaintiff’s ‘[f]actual allegations must be enough to
raise a right to relief above the speculative level,’ thereby
‘nudg[ing]

their

claims

across

3

the

line

from

conceivable

to

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plausible.’”

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Aziz, 658 F.3d at 391 (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v.

Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)).
Nofsinger

argues

that

the

district

court

erred

in

denying her due process claim.

Generally, a due process claim

requires

“whether

a

two-part

analysis:

[the

plaintiff]

was

deprived of a protected interest and, if so, what process was
his due.”

Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co., 455 U.S. 422, 428

(1982).

Our review of the record establishes that Nofsinger

failed to allege a protected property interest in her continued
enrollment in VCU’s graduate program and that, in any event, VCU
afforded Nofsinger sufficient procedural process.
Nofsinger also appeals the district court’s denial of
her equal protection claim.
Fourteenth

Amendment

The Equal Protection Clause of the

requires

“that

situated should be treated alike.”

all

persons

similarly

City of Cleburne v. Cleburne

Living Ctr., 473 U.S. 432, 439 (1985).

“To succeed on an equal

protection claim, a plaintiff must first demonstrate that he has
been treated differently from others with whom he is similarly
situated

and

intentional
Garraghty,

that
or

239

the

unequal

purposeful
F.3d

648,

treatment

was

the

discrimination.”
654

(4th

Cir.

2001).

result

Morrison

of
v.

Nofsinger

reasserts her arguments that VCU treated her differently from
several similarly situated students and dismissed her from the
graduate program based on personal animus harbored against her
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by the individual defendants.

We conclude that the district

court correctly found that Nofsinger failed to specify how the
alleged
failed

students
to

were

establish

similarly

that

any

situated

and,

differential

furthermore,

treatment

was

the

result of discrimination.
Nofsinger also appeals the district court’s dismissal
of her breach of contract claim against USPT.
that

she

was

an

intended

third

party

Nofsinger alleges

beneficiary

of

the

affiliation agreement between VCU and USPT, asserting that USPT
breached

several

district

court

provisions

correctly

of

the

contract.

found

that

USPT

did

Because
not

make

the
the

ultimate decisions to assign Nofsinger a failing grade or to
dismiss her from the VCU graduate program, we conclude that the
district court correctly dismissed this claim.
Finally, Nofsinger asserts breach of contract claims
against VCU and the individual defendants.

Because Nofsinger

did not allege a breach of contract claim against the individual
defendants in the district court, we conclude that Nofsinger may
not

now

pursue

this

claim

in

this

court.

Nofsinger

also

challenges the district court’s determination that her contract
claims against VCU are barred by the Eleventh Amendment.

“The

existence of sovereign immunity is a question of law” reviewed
de novo.

S.C. Wildlife Fed’n v. Limehouse, 549 F.3d 324, 332

(4th Cir. 2008).

“In the absence of consent a suit in which the
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State or one of its agencies or departments is named as the
defendant is proscribed by the Eleventh Amendment . . . whether
the relief sought is legal or equitable.”

Papasan v. Allain,

478 U.S. 265, 276 (1986) (internal quotation marks and citations
omitted).

Because VCU did not consent to suit, the district

court properly dismissed Nofsinger’s contract claims against VCU
as barred by the Eleventh Amendment.
Accordingly,
forma

pauperis,

dispense

with

contentions

are

we
oral

although

affirm

the

argument

adequately

we

grant

leave

district
because

presented

in

to

court’s

the
the

facts

proceed
order.

in
We

and

legal

materials

before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

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